Commencing in Auckland, we travel north to Trounson Kauri Park, the best place to see North Island Brown Kiwi among the giant Kauri trees while on the coast near Waipu Cove we look for NZ Dotterel, Variable and Southern Pied Oystercatcher are, Caspian Tern. Then it’s off to the open sea on a pelagic in the Hauraki Gulf , where we should see White faced storm petrel, NZ Storm Petrel, Cook’s Petrel, Bullers, Flesh-footed & Fluttering Shearwater, Black Petrel, White-fronted Tern, Fairy Penguin, Aus Gannet and Grey Ternlet. Nearby, the Tauwharanui peninsula holds Saddleback, Red-crowned Parakeet, Takahe, North Island Robin, Kaka, Tomtit and NZ Pigeon. Heading south, we will take a trip to TiriTiri Matangi Island to see Little Spotted Kiwi, Saddleback, Red Crowned Parakeet, North Island Robin, Bellbird, Whitehead, Brown Teal, Kokako, Fernbird , Takahe and Riflemen.
A little way south we visit the famous Miranda shorebird centre for Wrybill, Black Billed Gull, waders including, Banded Dotterel, NZ Dotterel and both Oystercatchers. Then as we head further south we visit the lovely Pureora Forest for Long Tailed Cuckoo, Yellow Crowned Parakeet, Tomtit, North Island Robin, Bellbird, Rifleman, Kaka and NZ Pipit. Nearby Turangi is the place for Blue Duck and also Fernbird and NZ Scaup .
We’ll leave the North Island via Wellington and take the Cook Straight ferry from which, depending on the weather, we can see Giant Petrel, Cape petrel, Salvin’s Albatross, White-capped Albatross, Pomarine Skua and others. Arriving at Picton on the South Island, we take a boat trip into Marlborough Sound to see Hector’s Dolphin, King Shag, Orange-fronted Parakeet, South Island Saddleback and South Island Robin there. Well then do the famous ½ day pelagic from Kaikoura and normally we expect at least 5 Albatross species, Hutton’s Shearwater, Cape Petrel, Northern and Giant Petrel and Dusky Dolphin. Back on land we head for Twizel which is home to the very rare Black Stilt, while NZ Falcon occurs around there too.
Next stop: Te Anau to look for Rock Wren, Kea and Black Fronted Tern on the way while Fiordland Crested Penguin is found in the very scenic fiord environement. Then we take the ferry over to Stewart Island for South Island Brown Kiwi at night followed by a pelagic which should yield more and different species of Albatross, Mottled petrel, Grey-backed Storm petrel, Brown Skua, Cook’s Petrel,Hutton’s Shearwater, Fiordland Crested Penguin and Yellow-eyed Penguin.
From here we do a short trip to Ulva Island to ensure South Island Saddleback, South Island Robin, Riflemen, both parakeets, Kaka, Weka, Yellowhead, Brown Creeper and maybe even a daytime Kiwi.
Finally we end up in Dunedin for Yellowhead, Yellow Eyed Penguin and then to the albatross colony for Northern Royal Albatross. Tour ends in Christchurch.
The scheduled itinerary and pricing information for this tour can be obtained by contacting us.
Upcoming Scheduled Departures:
New Zealand Birding Tour 2019 – 16 Days
4 February 2020 - 19 February 2020
New Zealand Birding Tour Gallery
